Sourcing a caliper bleeder screw

[Aeromechie]

When I got back to Rochester from break, I discovered that my right rear caliper had seized up, and proceeded to chew through my brake pads and my rotor on that side in the rear. After replacing the broken caliper and pads & rotors in the rear, (which was an adventure in and of itself due to shitty parts from advance auto parts) I also decided it would be a good idea to bleed my brakes. As it turns out, the previous owner had rounded off the bleeder screw on the other rear caliper. Now, I'm pretty sure I can get the screw out, but the process will probably destroy the screw.

So, I've been looking all over the place for a replacement bleeder screw that will work. Autozone and PepBoys have one that is the correct threading, but the geometry on the end is not the same, and it is much longer thanthe one I have now, and that concerns me a bit. I tried Dorschel, but they want 17 dollars for it, and I'm just not paying that on principle.

So, can anyone recommend a local or online place to find a rear bleeder screw for a 2001 Golf? The VW part number is 1K0615273. Ideally, it would cost less than 17 dollars.

I have searched the normal shops- ECS even has one for sale under that part number, but it's 11 bucks and they want another 11 dollars to ship it here- aside from that being silly, I'd much rather patronize local shops.

Thanks for the help guys.

[1evilgti]

what advance did you go to, and was it the wrong part, or bad part?

[Jason_Rosa]

all that matters for the bleeder screw is the thread and the angle on the end of it. The length of thread / body if longer dont make a difference. I have used generic auto part store bleeder screws plenty of times...

[Aeromechie]

1evilgti, it's a hell of a story, but here's the spark notes version: The bad parts came from Advance Auto in Henrietta, (next to RIT) on Lyell Ave, and on West Ridge Road. I went through 3 calipers from 3 different stores before they got me a new one from Autopart International, because they were unable to sell me one that worked one.

The first one I bought (from the store next to RIT) had an english-threaded bleeder in a metric-threaded hole, so it stripped out. I got a buddy to drive me back to the store, but they didn't have one, so we were sent up to Lyell, where I exchanged it for another one. The second one had a missing seal, (it puked brake fluid out the back of the caliper when the line was pressurized) so, since they stores were all closed by that point, we had to wait until the next morning. Drove back to Lyell Ave, where they didn't have one, so we were sent up to West Ridge Road, where we exchanged for the third one, which had another english-threaded bleeder in a metric-threaded hole. We went back to the store next to RIT, told them it was BS, and they sourced me a new one from Autopart International.

I had to go to 3 stores, because each time I bought the only one that each store had in stock. I would really recommend against anyone attempting to buy any sort of remanufactured calipers from them until they figure out their quality issues. Maybe I just got unlucky, but three out of three bad calipers is horrendous, and driving 70 miles to find a working one sucked, too. I wrote a very angry letter to advance corporate about the quality of their products, so we'll see what happens.



Anyway, back on topic. Jason, are you sure? The angle on the end of the two bleeders appeared to be the same, but the width of the angled portion was much smaller on the replacement one than stock, the diameter of the flat at the bottom of the bleeder was larger than stock, and the replacement bleeder had much more area (of a smaller diameter) below the threads than stock. The threading was the same, but I'd prefer to not have to replace another caliper anytime soon. Has anyone actually used an off-the-shelf replacement bleeder on their car? Because if someone has, I'll gladly take their word and go for it.

[1evilgti]

I work for advance out in webster, only on sundays but there are a few dubbers that work there. i have seen some problems with the fenco calipers mostly vw audi, and I would assume porsche too, rears quite often they're missing parts or rebuilt with to much metal missing around the banjo bolt to get a good seal, they're poorly designed to begin with. (never buy a fenco rack and pinion there either) most other parts are fine and they can get better parts from ai or imc you just have to wait for them. I do apologize for the inconvenience for whatever its worth. let me know next time you need something, I'll help you out.

[Aeromechie]

Thanks man. The calipers were all Fenco reman parts, and the quality was pretty terrible. With that said, all the people I interacted with were wonderful- the guy at Lyell even stayed open an extra few minutes so we could finish up the exchange, and when I went back to the store in Henrietta, they managed to source a new one for me for no additional charge. The people were great, the parts were not.

[Jason_Rosa]

I have used off the shelf bleeders without problems. If you want to be sure, pull one of your other ones off, and see where the bleeder is sealing against the caliper.. Usually you can see some scoring on the tapered portion.. And usually they seat about half way up the tapered portion of the bleeder (for oe bleeders). if the ones you're getting are turned down a little bit further, just make sure they're wider larger dia. than the point where the OE bleeder seated (if that makes sense)...